A Shelter From the Storm

I’m thinking much about my friends and family in the New York/New Jersey area these days. For the past three years we’ve joked about how their cities have had worse winter weather than my new adopted city of Buffalo. But nobody was joking yesterday and today we here in Buffal may be in Hurricane Sandy’s path today as well although it seems to have slowed a bit and things here are calm.

Mostly everyone I know down in New York City is OK. Marion’s cousin seems to have gotten the worst of it with no power and a bunch of trees falling on her deck. My best friend is stuck at his New York City Radio Station because the bridges, subways and tunnels are closed. My mother is safe in Yonkers hospital and my father and sister are hunkered down in their residences with little trouble. Two other close friends in Jersey are without power.

The worst is yet to come. It’s going to get cold tonight and tomorrow and those without power may have a rough time of it. Pray especially for the elderly who have a much harder time with the cold weather than the rest of us.

Technology has been a great “shelter” for many of us, Facebook especially. Even for those without power Verizon mobile hotspots have kept them able to update their status and wrap others in a virtual embrace. It’s amazing how connected we are now and how much easier it’s been to stay connected to each other at times like this when we all need to come together, even despite differences.

And yet, some would rather stay in the storm of hatred and destruction.

A preacher claims that the pro-gay agenda by both Gov. Romney and President Obama (but especially President Obama, he says) has caused the storm. Take a gander at this pure bullshit that starts with a reference to the “perfect storm” that hit New England 21 years ago to the day.

It appears that God gave America 21 years to repent of interfering with His prophetic plan for Israel; however, it has gotten worse under all the presidents and especially Obama. Obama is 100 percent behind the Muslim Brotherhood which has vowed to destroy Israel and take Jerusalem. Both candidates are pro-homosexual and are behind the homosexual agenda. America is under political judgment and the church does not know it!

With all of this, there is almost zero repentance by the church: zero! The fear of God has disappeared from His people. The church in America is now EXACTLY like ancient Israel before the Babylonians destroyed them. Both ancient Israel and the modern American church completely lost the fear of God.

On blog talk radio, a handful of us have been crying out to the Lord in repentance and mercy on the land along with an outpouring of the Holy Spirit on us.

And everywhere but your blog talk radio program, people are calling on you to shut the hell up and to regain your sense of humanity, you idiot.

If there’s one thing that can get me going it is the stupidity of fundamentalism and their lack of remorse and compassion and their insistence that God smites people for their sins–a notion that Jesus repeatedly denies throughout the gospels. And one that Catholics do not hold as a tenet of their faith.

The worst part about this is that some will lump all religious people into one boat (no pun intended) because of the comments of one moron. The great work that Catholic Charities USA is doing in places like Little Ferry, NJ where they helped haul people to safety will go mostly unnoticed.

But let’s not harp on bad news but on resiliency of our people. Including those over at Late Night with Jimmy Fallon, where Fallon delivered a monologue to an empty theatre and in my opinion, he killed it. Take a look.

Today let us pray for all those caught in harm’s way. My colleague Becky Eldredge sent this my way yesterday:

Prayer for Protection During a Storm:

Loving God, maker of heaven and earth,
Protect us in your love and mercy.
Send the Spirit of Jesus to be with us,
To still our fears and give us confidence.

In the story waters,
Jesus reassured his disciples by his presence,
Calmed the storm, and strengthened their faith.
Guard us from harm during this storm
And renew our faith to serve you faithfully.
Give us the courage to face all difficulties
And the wisdom to see the ways
Your Spirit binds us together in mutual assistance.

With Confidence we make our prayer through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.

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One thought on “A Shelter From the Storm”

Thanks for this reflection, Mike. It brought tears to my eyes. We are grateful that so many were spared nature’s wild might, and redouble our appeals for God’s help to those who have been hurt in the storm, and those who work to help. May God’s loving mercy for all be made known to all.